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The North Carolina Auditor is an elected executive position in the North Carolina state government. The Office of the Auditor acts as a watchdog for the state government and provides citizens, legislators, and government officials with professional and independent evaluations of North Carolina's financial records and performance reports.

Current officeholder

The current officeholder is Beth Wood (D). She was first elected in 2008.

Authority

(1) Officers. A Secretary of State, an Auditor, a Treasurer, a Superintendent of Public Instruction, an Attorney General, a Commissioner of Agriculture, a Commissioner of Labor, and a Commissioner of Insurance shall be elected by the qualified voters of the State in 1972 and every four years thereafter, at the same time and places as members of the General Assembly are elected. Their term of office shall be four years and shall commence on the first day of January next after their election and continue until their successors are elected and qualified. ...

Qualifications

Every qualified voter in North Carolina who is 21 years of age, except as in this Constitution disqualified, shall be eligible for election by the people to office.

qualified North Carolina voter

21 years of age

Elections

The auditor in North Carolina is popularly elected every four years, in presidential election years. The auditor, barring any vacancies, will be elected in 2012, 2016, and 2020. The term of office is four years, and begins on the first day of January next after their election.

Vacancies

Article III, Section 7 addresses vacancies in the office of auditor. In the event of a vacancy, the governor appoints a successor who will serve until a new officeholder is elected. The election coincides with the first election for members of the General Assembly that occurs more than 60 days after the seat becomes vacant.

Duties

The Office of the State Auditor provides independent, unbiased, and professional assessments of whether public resources are being properly accounted for. The primary type of audit the office performs is financial, but there are a number of duties that go along with auditing the state's use of taxpayer money:

assess the security and integrity of the state's information technology systems

provide monitoring and technical assistance for non-government recipients of state grants

evaluate state programs

provide guidance to the legislature on the operation of all aspects of state government, clerks of court, University systems, and community colleges[1]

Divisions

Controller

Financial Audits

General Counsel

Human Resources

Investigations

Management Information Systems

Performance Audits

Public/Legislative Affairs

Quality Assurance

State budget

The budget for the Office of the State Auditor in Fiscal Year 2013 was $15,411,606.[2]